Travel Technology - Mobile phone in Asia?

I will be soon working in Southeast Asia (including Singapore, Malaysia, Shanghai, Hong Kong) for about 12 months.

Can someone recommend some good mobile phones (international/GSM) to be used over there?

Also, feel free to PM if you have experiences of working and living there. I would like to hear about your experiences.:)

Thank you!

Get a tri-band or quad-band mobile phone and it should be usable there, and of course it should be unlocked. It may also be more fashionable if you buy your mobile phone there, the models are newer and much more fashionable as compared to those sold in the US.

fone,
Thank you for your prompt response.

May I also ask if mobile phones are cheaper here than over there in Southeast Asia?

They are cheaper here, particularly if you pick something up on eBay (where I get all my GSM phones).

Ptravel,
Thanks for suggesting about getting GSM phone via ebay.

"Free after rebate" beats Ebay.

Link>> (http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=36665&t=761384&highlight=6126)

"Free after rebate" beats Ebay.

Link>> (http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=36665&t=761384&highlight=6126)

Wow -- that's a great deal!

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Ooops -- just read further into the thread. The phone isn't unlocked. One poster said ATT will unlock it for $30. Also, no mention of a rebate. $19.95 for a refurb is pretty good, but add in another $30 (assuming the poster was correct) and you're in the $50 range -- only par for a phone like this.

You can get really good deals on phones in Asia, if you know your market well. I've done well at Mongkok in Hong Kong. The caveat is that some of the popular models (e.g. the Nokia n95) are being counterfeited and the counterfeits are highly deceptive, but have less features. Most of time people are honest about what is a fake and what isn't (maybe "honest" isn't the right word), but not always.

Are you looking for a smartphone, a multimedia phone, a phone phone. I have a Nokia e65 and love it for travel. It is a slider, quadband plus WCDMA 2100mhz (3g speeds and works in Japan as well). I like it because I've signed up for a service called truphone which gives me a US number which automatically call forwards to the prepaid SIM that I purchase. It also gives me real cheap VOIP anywhere my phone can log onto wifi.

Dubai Stu,
Yes, I am looking for a multi media phone. I may check into Truphone service too.

Thank you everyone for the wonderful suggestions!

Wow -- that's a great deal!

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Ooops -- just read further into the thread. The phone isn't unlocked. One poster said ATT will unlock it for $30. Also, no mention of a rebate. $19.95 for a refurb is pretty good, but add in another $30 (assuming the poster was correct) and you're in the $50 range -- only par for a phone like this.

Read my posts on that thread...unlocked after delivery for N/C. I spelled out the steps. The mopes on SD can't read engrish.

The rebate is through dealking.com.

YMMV.

There's a lot of 3G in Asia, and I found my Nokia E61 worked particularly well in countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, HKG etc. Surprising how much time it "roamed" in 3g (2100 WCDMA)...

Willyroo,
Thank you for your response. It has been a long day..and I can not think well! :o May I ask what you meant when you said:

"Surprising how much time it "roamed" in 3g (2100 WCDMA)..."

The E61 and E65 are essentially the same phone. The E61 has a form factor similar to a Blackberry. The E65 looks like a conventional phone. They do the same things and run the same program. Which form is better is purely a matter of choice.

The n95 is a multimedia phone which can use Truphone.

if u just want a basic phone, look for any unlocked GSM tri or quad band phone. buy in the US online, try tigerdirect.com or jr.com, they pften have basic nokia, motorola or samsung phones for $35-$100. I think Nokia is the best quality. if u want a fancy phone, the nokia N95 is about $500 in the US. once u get there, u can buy a prepaid sim card very cheap and just recharge it. make sure u ask about the code or special number u dial for long distance calls, this will vary depending on what country u r in and will make long dist calls much cheaper than direct dial.

Willyroo,
Thank you for your response. It has been a long day..and I can not think well! :o May I ask what you meant when you said:

"Surprising how much time it "roamed" in 3g (2100 WCDMA)..."

Ah - 3G is a more recent development than plain old GSM (or 2G). So if someone talks about tri- or quad-band, they generally refer to GSM handsets. I was referring to the fact that if you are thinking about a tri- or quad-band handset, it may be worth your while to pay a bit more for one with 3G capability as well.

http://reviews.ebay.com.au/What-is-3G_W0QQugidZ10000000004852681
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G

Ah - 3G is a more recent development than plain old GSM (or 2G). So if someone talks about tri- or quad-band, they generally refer to GSM handsets. I was referring to the fact that if you are thinking about a tri- or quad-band handset, it may be worth your while to pay a bit more for one with 3G capability as well.

http://reviews.ebay.com.au/What-is-3G_W0QQugidZ10000000004852681
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G

3G was around for quite some time already, Japan has been using CDMA network since 1997.

http://www.globalccf.org/cdma_resources/history.html

Shops in both HK and Singapore will have a wide selection of competitively priced, unlocked mobiles.

Tri-band is not necessary for Asia -- it is 900/1800 like most of the world. However, you may want 800/2100 UMTS if you want to use it places like Japan or Australia.

Shops in both HK and Singapore will have a wide selection of competitively priced, unlocked mobiles.

Tri-band is not necessary for Asia -- it is 900/1800 like most of the world. However, you may want 800/2100 UMTS if you want to use it places like Japan or Australia.

Tri-band is more for use in US, since OP is from US, thus a Tri/Quad-band mobile would be be available for use both in Asia and US.

For Singapore, you can check out prices and models at Singtel (http://www.singtelshop.com/store/product/default.asp?id=1) one of Singapore's major mobile provider. Prices shown are for a 2 year contract and if I'm not wrong, you should need to add about S$200 for no contract or S$100 for a 1 year contract.

Wow, thank you so much everyone for your suggestions!:)

3G was around for quite some time already, Japan has been using CDMA network since 1997.

CDMA is not "3G".

CDMA is not "3G".

Hmm, thanks for the correction!